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CARBON TRANSFER WORKSHOPS
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WHO
Groups of four people. Since there is so much information to cover about advanced carbon practices, it is recommended that workshop attendees have some experience printing in carbon or have an extensive background in alternative processes.
WHAT
A 10 day workshop ending in you being able to make multilayer double transfer carbon prints, and understanding important concepts about that process that will allow you to create your own methods to suit your own needs.
WHERE
In the Wet Print Studio in beautiful Valencia, Spain. See the studio
WHEN
Right now all workshops are booked for 2020 and 2021. Contact me to be placed on the cancellation/waiting list.
WHY
Understanding how the carbon process works will save you thousands of hours in failed attempts and allow you to make wise investments in equipment and materials. I’ll also give you all the carbon recipes I use, Photoshop curves, and samples of materials, so you can make prints with minimal effort. You will also walk away with a beautiful print.
Throughout the workshop, whenever we have a moment we will look at theory, at some part of this mind map- https://www.instagram.com/p/B60sUpWoEOW/. It’s a lot of material to get through, so students are encouraged to take lots of videos and photos. Students are also encouraged to have made a traditional single transfer carbon print before coming to the workshop.
Day 1– Yellow and burnt sienna layers of a color carbon print
Day 2- Magenta, cyan, and black layers of a color carbon print. During this time we will make a map of how to create a single, double or triple transfer print. This map will be very useful on day 6 when you are on your own to make a print.
Day 3- Clean borders of the prints, gloss layer, and double transfer
Day 4– Materials preparation day. Prepare: luster and matte paper, temporary support, and emulsion.
Day 5– Draw out all the steps for materials preparation from the previous day. Triple transfer, clear print, intro to calibration
Weekend to rest
Day 6– Students will be able to make a black and white print without my help.
Day 7– Calibration day. Just to give an idea of how fast paced this workshop is- I know of many workshops dedicated just to making digital negatives. They are usually two or three days and just cover calibration and making negatives. We’ll do it in two hours, then learn how to make tonal separations and ICC profiles.
Day 8– Finish black and white prints. Review calibration. Start Theory
Day 9– Theory. We’ll have spent probably 20 hours on theory by this point, but we’ll look at the really important things this day.
Day 10- Finish theory in the morning. In the afternoon we’ll package prints and negatives for safe travel, as well as samples of all the materials for you to reverse engineer and test. I’ll also give you all my recipes, curves, profiles, etc… and go over where to buy materials. Review notes and time for questions.
TOPICS TO COVER
This is not a complete list, it’s actually an old list back from 2017 that I need to update. Email me for a complete list of what we’ll cover- It’s 19 pages long, so doesn’t really fit on a webpage.
DAS instead of Dichromates: Looking at problems and solutions to staining, microbubbles, self masking, heat degradation, and cyrstalization.
Imagesetter and Photoplotter Negatives: Why you should be using imagesetter instead of inkjet negatives. Design issues when making tissue for use with imagesetter negatives.
Pigments: Good and poor choices and how we can use different types to affect the final image.
Sizing Paper for Single and Double Transfer: Various sizing methods: comb, rod, roller, tray. Additives and how to make perfectly matte paper. Hardening for single transfer
Toning Prints: How to soft proof a tone then replicate it exactly in your print.
Tonal Separations: Why I do it the way I do.
Single Transfer Prints: If you don’t have any experience in carbon we can go over this in a morning.
Dark Effect: Why it happens and how to prevent it- importance of humidity, temperature, time, and ph.
Double Transfer and Multilayer Prints: Registration, reticulation, moisture control, mating, tissue design, etc…
Making Tissue: Recipes, tricks, and an overview of additives such as surfactants, antifoaming agents, alcohol, fungicide, humectants and matting agents.
Miscellaneous: Exotic papers, metallic pigments, multiple double or single transfers to a single paper sheet, registration for carbon over platinum, and other weird stuff I might be trying at the moment.
Gloss Layer: How to add depth to the darks in your print when working on matte paper, or selectively control gloss in parts of a print.
Achieving good Density: Pigment choice, self masking, sensitizer, light source, max exposure time, perception of black.
How to Make CMYK Prints: How to design the tissue, make separations, and calibrate.
Color Theory and Color Pigments: Metamers, icc profiles, color space geometry, colormaking attributes, lightfastness, and a thousand other concepts that will help you make color carbon prints.
Quad Tone Rip: How to export/import curves, set ink density, choose correct inks for separations, calibrate, masking curve, and custom ink sets.
Highlights: Why do highlights wash away, and how we can prevent it from happening. You should be able to easily reproduce 1-5% gray without any visible grain or defects.
BY THE END OF THE WORKSHOP…
You’ll be able to make a triple transfer color carbon print.
You’ll also have the theory to understand what causes, and how to fix: frilling, blown out highlights, microbubbles, staining, misregistration, calibration errors, shiny specks, and many other problems that have simple solutions. This will allow you to focus on the artistic side of printing.
A word of caution- The carbon process is very time consuming, and is not for the faint of heart. You must be good at failing to be successful in carbon. The workshop will give you a huge base of knowledge to work off of, but you will have to put in the time to learn how to make a good print. I tell people to plan on about 500 hours of practice after the workshop before making a good print.
Costs for the workshop is 1950 euros.
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REVIEWS
KANE STEWART
I recently took The Wet Print’s one-on-one workshop on making multilayer, carbon transfer prints and could not be happier with the experience! The five-day workshop was organized, professional, and nicely paced so as to make each step in the process manageable. Calvin’s clear and concise instruction helped me understand each variable in the process by using a mix of demonstration, experimentation, and discussion. He has a solid grasp of the carbon transfer process. His focused and interactive style of teaching tailor-made the experience to fit my goals and dovetail nicely into my photographic printmaking experience. After the five-day workshop, I felt confident and eager to put into practice what I had learned—and left with two outstanding carbon prints. I highly recommend this workshop for anyone desiring to learn one of the most beautiful photographic printing processes there are.
KIM JUNGHYUN
I first learned about carbon transfer prints a few years ago and became interested in the process. I did a lot of research and finally decided to do a workshop with Calvin Grier in Spain. I knew a lot about analog photography and I practice a few other alternative processes, but the first encounter with carbon printing was a surprise. This was another world! The workshop was just 5 days, but very intense, yet his explanations were simple for a beginner to understand. This helped me greatly in understanding the process. It was very interesting going from the production of the negative films to the final print, and seeing all the tools Calvin has created for the process. I am now reviewing all the knowledge I gained through the workshop. Taking good notes helps. It was a short time, but his teaching was friendly and provided a lot of information. Now to study and make some prints. Thanks Calvin!
DONRAWEE WARANON
I am very new to the carbon transfer process. Many times that I tried and failed to make prints which I believed the process is too complicate and time consuming. Luckily, before I gave up on this printing method, I found that Calvin gives a workshop on carbon transfer and I decided to try it once again. At first, I had been a bit reluctant to take a long trip to Valencia, Spain as I was not confident that attending the workshop would really help. But Calvin is a very good teacher and for me the best carbon printer. I had learned a lot during the workshop and carbon printing is not really that difficult anymore. Also I have to thank him and his wife for generosity and hospitality during my stay in Spain.
PILAR RUBI
The workshop with Calvin was more than I had imagined. They were intense days of work with a perfectionist. I learned everything about carbon printing, which I’ll now be able to practice in Habana, Cuba. I am a wet plate collodion photographer as well, a technique which goes well with carbon. Not to be missed by whoever wants to get into this fabulous process!
DAVID HATTON
Calvin provides more than enough information and assistance to go from zero to Carbon Print Hero in just five (looong) days. You will hit the ground running and you will be starting to make your print on the first day. It is intense and you WILL make mistakes but at the end of the course you will have the tools and knowledge to print Carbon to a professional level. Calvin has spent years examining the process down to the finest detail so that you, his student, can benefit from his dedication to the craft and I must say that he is doing more for the craft of Carbon printing in the New Age than anyone else I know. If you are passionate about Carbon printing and keeping it alive for future generations, this course is a must-do (but get fit first) Do it – you won’t regret it!
MAJO GUERRERO FONSECA
Calvin Grier is a master of the carbon transfer process. His contributions have perfected and modernized one of the most noble of photographic processes. It was a pleasure to meet in Valencia and receive teachings, which have proven very valuable for my photography, directly from him.
RAFAEL ROJAS
I recently spent a whole week with Calvin in a 1-to-1 workshop on carbon transfer. The workshop was impressive and surpassed all my expectations, which were many! Calvin not only has become one of the masters of carbon transfer worldwide, he also knows how to put together a complex and difficult process into an intense but well structured and highly pedagogical workshop. Throughout the 5 days we spent together, I could get to a deep understanding of the theoretical basis of the process, the why, and then get to the practice, the how. Calvin is a person who does not settle for the good enough, and is constantly pushing for perfection, whatever that might demand. Through research, practice and hard work, he has reached in a few years what many do not after a lifetime. Not only has he gathered an impressive knowledge and experience in his field, but he is happy to share it with his students. He is a true teacher, whose reward is seeing his students become as good as he is. Truly recommended would be an understatement!
ROBERTO ALGUILAR
I have been a photographer for the better part of my life. I come from a film background and ran a black and white lab at a prestigious university in Paris. Nothing can compare to the quality of what Calvin teaches. This was an intense week for me with tons of information. Although I took lots and lots of notes, anything I would have missed, Calvin was more than happy to send to me after the workshop was over. He is one of the most knowledgeable printers I have ever met. Calvin is so passionate that he reminded me of a mad scientist. I cannot recommend this workshop enough. It has opened my eyes to some of the most beautiful prints I have ever seen.
ALEXANDER NALIVAEV
Thank you so much for the workshop. I’ve never had such an interesting and intensive immersion in a subject or training. It took me two months to disassemble the materials in detail. This is really the level of a Master. Separate gratitude for the friendly atmosphere.
BERNARD PANIER & NANCY ELISABETH
The carbon printing workshop with Calvin Grier is top notch. He is methodological, efficient, very knowledgeable, and is continuously researching and improving the process. During the five day course we learned and applied theory, and received many practical tips that will allow us to avoid many small and large errors. All the knowledge and experience we received during this 5 day intensive course will allow us to grow and understand what we are doing. Thank you Calvin for the warm and welcome hospitality; thank you for sharing and caring.
YANIS HOUSSEN
Calvin Grier’s workshop is nothing short of exceptional for anyone wishing to improve their printing skills: As a technician, he makes color carbon transfer prints at a level that few, if any, have ever reached. He studied and enhanced traditional techniques, and crafted precise digital tools to calibrate the process. Carbon transfer printing was invented in the 19th century, Calvin brought it in the 21st and keeps improving! As a teacher, not only does he provide clear and precise explanations, but also helps you set up your own way and strategy for creating prints. His theoretical and practical knowledge allows him to guide you effectively towards the desired result. In short : Wanna do better carbon transfer prints ? Go see Calvin.
